On August 17th, the kids go back to school, and our fantastic but totally nutty summer comes to an end. Boy did it fly. I find it funny that the advent of school will actually slow us down. Here’s what happened over the last few months, starting at the end of May!
Estes Park, Colorado
We spent 10 days at my favorite place in the world doing all my favorite things. Spending time with family, hiking, eating, shopping. Loved it! Nothing better in the world IMO.
Book Release–The Wrong Kind of Compatible by Kadie Scott
My first romantic comedy, The Wrong Kind of Compatible, under my Kadie Scott pen name, released with Entangled on June 12th. I’ve been thrilled with the feedback and really enjoyed all the release festivities (blog tour, Facebook take overs, Facebook parties, etc.)
Birthday Parties
We celebrated birthdays for kids, parents, and friends over the course of the summer. February through July for us is insane birthday season. Now we have a “break.”
Dallas & St. Louis
We visited my hubby’s fam in Dallas and all drove up to St. Louis together for a lovely family wedding. We also did all sorts of fun things, including a Cardinals game!
Signed Entangled Contract–Inferno Rising
I signed a contract with Entangled for a 4-book paranormal romance series, tentatively titled “Inferno Rising” under my Abigail Owen pen name. This one I contracted on proposal, and I am obsessing over it. The world is so alive in my head! #TheDragonsAreComing!
Summer Camp
My oldest went to summer camp which involved transporting him to Dallas. And then heading back up there a week later for the parent presentations and to pick him up. It was a STEM camp and they did cool things like learn to be a CSI, build and program a robot car, and dissect a cow’s heart. Super cool.
Time with Bro & Fam
My brother and his family lived in our house all summer. They are between digs at the moment, and they house sat and watched our dogs while we were gone so much. In between trips we got to spend a lot of wonderful time with them.
California Friends
We went back to our old home in El Dorado Hills, CA to visit friends there. We got up to Lake Tahoe for a day, and otherwise took it easy and had a blast seeing our buddies. That’s what I miss most about CA…our friends.
Writing Inferno Rising Book #1
I signed that contract and have been writing book 1 since June. I’ve finished the first draft and am working on second draft right now. Close to 85k words done with 90k being the goal. Seriously, when I say obsessing, I mean it. I am deep in this on and LOVING it!
Editing
Lots of editing going on at the same time. A combo of working on proposals for new books, and working with my editor on The Attraction Equation (book 2 in my Kadie Scott Love Undercover romantic comedy series).
RWA in Orlando & Disney
In July I attended RWA Nationals in Orlando, rooming with my buds Nicole and Tracy, attending workshops, giving one of own workshops, etc. Had a BLAST! And rounded it out with a day at The Magic Kingdom.
Placed 2nd in PRISM Awards
My paranormal romance novella, Her Demigod Complex, placed 2nd in the PRISM Awards for novella! Honored and thrilled to even be a finalist. Thank you so much to FF&P for running such a fantastic contest.
AOAD Business Growing
Authors On a Dime continues to grow and grow. I’m getting lots of great business. Anything from book covers (probably what I do the most), to other marketing graphics, to editing, to Facebook parties. Love working with all those fantastic authors and having a different creative outlet!
RVing at Krause Springs
We rented an RV and went to Krause Springs, TX for a few days to “relax.” And it was lovely. The kids had a blast. Other than the cottonmouth snakes and the big thunderstorm that rolled through the last night, so did we! 🙂
Prepping for School
With only a week to go, I’m now deep in prep for school time. This includes cleaning my entire house. Doing a ton of laundry (remember we’ve been traveling all summer). Buying school clothes. Getting kids hair cuts. A massive grocery shopping (again, all that being away from home). And my daughter wants me to help her start and Endangered Animals Club this year.
Phew!
I’ll be sad to not have the kids to myself during the day, but returning to a routine and slowing down a bit will be nice. We had a wonderful summer, enjoying each and every trip. But I will say it was a little too much. Next year we’re limiting ourselves and spending more time at home. Lol. I hope you also had a wonderful summer, and, if you’re like me and prepping for back to school, best of luck to you!
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